


Are We There Yet?

by Crylorenn



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, I'm so bad at tagging, Modern AU, Road Trip, Star Wars modern au, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Modern Au, This is going to be an adventure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-19 04:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5954299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crylorenn/pseuds/Crylorenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re a social justice activist who hates the major oil company run by Snoke. The twist? Your childhood best friend happens to be the CEO, Kylo Ren. When a protest goes wrong, you find yourself in prison, but if that couldn’t be any worse, the only way home is a cross-country road trip with Kylo Ren himself. Will you two be able to work things out, or will you end up killing each other before the trip is over? Will you finally be able to use the AUX cord? Are we there yet?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Are We There Yet? (Teaser)

Kylo Ren stared out the massive window of his apartment, the flickering lights of New York City danced below him under the setting sun. He sighed, working at the office late made him exceedingly tired, but with competition like his co-woker Hux, the late nights were necessary. Both battling for succession of Snoke when he retired, Kylo was CEO, but Hux was always close behind, battling to take his place. The promotion was close, he could feel it, but his boss, Snoke, was ruthless and whatever Mr. Snoke was expecting of him wouldn’t be easy. Turning away from the window and padding his way down the shining black tile floor, Kylo was just about to turn the light off and get some much needed rest when he heard his phone ring. Letting out a loud groan at the name on the caller ID, Kylo answered,  
“Can I help you, Han.”  
“That’s dad to you, kiddo.” Kylo rolled his eyes.  
“I’m actually in the middle of some very important business, so if you could cut to the point, that’d be great.” Kylo lied, eager to get the phone call over with.  
“I’ve been good, thanks for asking. Anyway, I have a favour to ask you.” Han paused before continuing, “You remember [Y/N]?”  
The name caused a sickening turn of emotion in Kylo. Of course he remembered her, how could he forget? They were childhood friends, inseparable since birth. Throughout their entire childhood, Kylo always had a crush on her, maybe even loved her, but they broke each other’s hearts. When Kylo left to go to his uncle’s private school, he promised he’d talk to her as much as he could, and he did. For awhile that is. That’s when his name was Ben, Ben Solo, son of the greatest environmental activists, their company constantly fighting of land rights to forests and protection of the ocean, or whatever it was his parents did before they divorced. At his father’s private school, Kylo eventually ran away, a professor their named Mr. Snoke saw his potential and immediately began teaching him, bringing him onto the company. A huge international oil company, bigger than any company before him, they were a multibillion dollar business with offices around the world. [Y/N] hated it, he knew, and so he never talked to her again, but he thought about her.  
“Ben? Can you hear me?” Han’s voice came over the other side of the phone, startling Kylo out of his thoughts.  
“It’s Kylo, dad, I can’t be taken seriously here at work with a name like Solo.”  
“Oooh, okay, son, okay, Kylo is way better than Solo.” Kylo could almost hear the face Han was making on the other side, “Anyway, look I need you to pick [Y/N] up tomorrow.”  
“I’m in New York City, dad, I’m no where close to California.”  
“That’s… kind of the thing. [Y/N] was actually in a protest in New York… and um, she got a little violent. She sort of got detained and she doesn’t know anyone in the city… Look, I know you haven’t come to any of the family reunions since… well I don’t even know when, but it’s next week and maybe could you just pick her up? Her parents already covered her bail, but they’re going to be here next week and maybe you could just come and bring her down?”  
“Even if I wanted to help, I don’t have time to book a plane ticket and I’m 100% sure she hates me.” Kylo said groggily, damn he was tired.  
“Well, you could drive?”  
“A road trip?” Kylo sighed, “No absolutely not.”  
Yet here he was, parked outside a minimum-security prison the next day, checking the locks on the doors every time someone who wasn’t [Y/N] walked out. That’s when he saw her, butterflies exploded in his chest, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. She was strutting her way out of the gates, a backpack slung over red flannel, ripped jeans tucked into black boots. Her [Y/H/C] blew a little in the wind, tousled from a night spent in prison he could only guess. [Y/N] flung his car door wide open and plopped herself down, she still smelled the same, but a little mix of prison soap also hung in the air.  
“Ben fucking Solo, long time no see.” She said, tossing her backpack in the back of the car, “Ready for an adventure?”

\-----  
A/N: So here it is, just a little preview of what I'm working on next after Love Will Have Its Way! Hope you guys will like it, this is going to be a fun one to write.


	2. Are We There Yet? Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The first chapter of my new favourite fic to write. Hope you enjoy!

Are We There Yet? Chapter 1 A dramatic sigh exploded from beside Kylo, startling him out of his uncomfortable silence as you lolled your head over to look at him.

“Are we there yet?” You groaned.

It had been twenty minutes, you hadn’t even left New York City yet, Kylo gave you a biting look, stating that fact.

“Aren’t you, like, a quadrillionaire or something? Can’t we just take your jumbo jet, so I don’t have to be in this fucking silent car ride? Or can we turn the radio on?” You huffed, picking at the chipping nail polish on your fingers.

“I don’t have a ‘jumbo jet’ and I don’t think a quadrillionaire is even a thing. Trust me, I would like more than anything to not be here right now, but there is no way I’m listening to whatever weird shit you’re into the entire way.” Kylo snapped, crankily smacking your hand away from the dials.

You glare, crossing your arms.

“I’d rather walk.” You made a move to unlock the doors, even though Kylo was travelling at uncomfortably high speeds.

He swerves, pulling the sleeve of your shirt, “What the hell?! Can you just sit and pretend you don’t exist like a normal fucking human being?”

“Relax, I wasn’t actually going to jump out…” You pause, mumbling, “Yet.”

Kylo sighs, “Fine, turn the radio on.”

You give a squealing smile, “That’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me.” You say, flicking through radio stations.

Kylo almost seems to be hurt by your statement, though you can’t imagine why. He’s the one that stopped writing you, you’re the one who was left heartbroken in small town California, crying your little teen heart out. You still cried sometimes, if you were being honest. You never got over him, sabotaging every date your friends, Poe, Finn and Rey forced you on. It was stupid, you know, but you’d never tell Ben, Kylo, whatever his name was.

“Can you pick a station already? Or I’m taking away your radio rights.” Kylo disrupts you from your thoughts.

Yup, definitely never telling him how you still felt, “Don’t you have an aux cord?” You said, digging around his console.

“No.”

“Liar.” You smirk, digging out a shiny red aux cord from it’s hiding place under broken CD cases and a wallet.

“You’re not using it.”

“Watch the road, fancy pants.”

Silence, “… Fancy pants?”

“Shut up.”

You flick through the playlists on your phone, desperate to find something that will annoy Kylo just enough to watch his ears turn red. You loved when that happened, you always liked to embarrass him or piss him of when you two were little just to watch his big ears turn bright red. Another thing you’d never admit. Along with the fact that from the moment you got in the car there were butterflies screaming in a frantic fury in your stomach just like before.

Settling on an old song you remembered Ben adamantly hating as a pre-teen, you decide to play it. It’s a classic. The first few notes of Waterfalls by TLC begin to play and you watch Kylo’s face change right before your eyes. He’s not annoyed or angry, he’s actually smiling, which you weren’t expecting at all.

“Are you seriously playing this song right now?”

You shrug, “Sometimes you gotta stick to the rivers and lakes that you used to.” It didn’t make sense, but you nodded as if to confirm that it totally did.

Kylo raises an eyebrow quizzically at you, but you keep staring straight ahead as you exit the city. You switched to a few more songs, he made no comment whether he liked them or not, but you took that as a good sign.

“So, Mr. Big-Shot-CEO, what’s new with you.” You pause before adding, “You know, besides deserting your family, breaking your parents’ hearts, and destroying the planet.”

Kylo sighs, wincing a little at the harshness of your words, but you didn’t care. A little uncomfortable was what he deserved right now.

“Are you going to be this hostile the entire trip?” He snaps at you.

“Are you going to keep not apologizing for being an asshole this entire trip?” You retaliate.

“What did I do, huh? You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. I made something with my life! I stood up and I got what I wanted! Is that so wrong? Am I such a monster for not being a pushover like my dad? Am I a monster for stepping up a getting what I want?” Kylo was yelling now, but kept his eyes on the road, refusing to look at you.

You chuckled ruefully at his words, denying him the satisfaction of seeing you flinch, “You must be so lonely, Ben.”

Kylo tears his eyes from the road to glare at you. You stare right back before grumbling at him to watch the road. You pick your nail polish again, tugging at your sleeves instinctively as you lean back in the seat. An awkward silence overtakes the car again with only the quiet humming of whatever alternative song had come on in your playlist.

It stays like this for a couple hours before you mumble something.

“What?” Kylo says flatly.

“I said I have to pee.”

Kylo’s face suddenly flashes with an awkward realization, as if he forgot you were a human being who had bodily needs, his full lips formed in the letter “O” as he punches in something on the GPS of his car. Soon enough you arrived at a 7/11 and you darted out the car. Sitting in the bathroom, you ran a hand through you hair, fighting the urge to throw up. You didn’t actually have to pee, that was a lie, it was just the building pain of actually seeing Ben again that had your stomach rejecting the little food you had eaten in the prison hours before. It hurt to seem him again and as the ride had continued, your initial anger had receded to remembering just how much you had missed him. Miss his smell, his smile, and the way his eyes used to light up when he saw you. Brushing off the ghosts of tears under your eyes, you took a few deep breaths and decided to go back and face the next couple hours of deafening awkwardness and unspoken feelings ahead of you.

Getting back into the car you were greeted with two large gas station bags filled with food and two steaming drinks.

“I hope you haven’t changed too much and you still like all this stuff.” Kylo said softly, turning a little red, “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

So, it was still Ben under that Kylo façade after all.

“Yeah, yeah I do. Thanks.” You say, settling back into the passenger’s seat.

Maybe your Ben was still there, just maybe.


	3. Are We There Yet? Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here it is! Hope you weren’t expecting to much because this is a bit of a slower build, but there’s more days of road ahead of them, so we’ll see where it takes us.

 

Day 1: The rest of the drive that day consisted of small talk.

“So… uh, seen anything good on Netflix.” You finally said after a mouthful of now lukewarm coffee.

“I don’t really watch much TV…” Kylo answered, just as closed off as the last five dead end questions you had asked.

“What the shit, so you haven’t seen anything then? Orange Is the New Black? Scandal? Nothing?” You animated questions caught Kylo off-guard.

“Well, I mean, sometimes, but I’m only one like Season 2 of Orange Is the New Black.”

“Yeah well, I can tell you first hand New York prison ain’t like the show. There was no Alex Vause to sweep me off my feet and onto a washing machine.” You laughed, taking another sip.

To your surprise, Kylo actually laughed. You hadn’t seen him laugh, genuinely, in a very long time. You caught yourself staring, watching as his eyes crinkled, you realized you were still just as in love with him as before. The thought made you shake your head, _no, you learned your lesson last time._

You managed to catch up on the missing years of your lives as the sun made its lazy way across the sky, turning into a soft pink and orange sunset, the flecks of orange catching in the deep brown of Kylo’s eyes as he watched the road ahead of you.

“Wanna stop somewhere soon? I don’t really like driving at night.” Kylo said softly, still conscious of watching what he said, but more relaxed now.

You didn’t realize you were still staring at him, his sudden question startling you out of the day dream of what your life could have been like if he had never left. You tried to convince yourself it would have been just as shitty, working a dead end job as journalist, saving all your money up for social activist events and posting angry rants to the small magazine you worked for in Sacramento. Kylo was still waiting for your answer,

“Yeah, sure, my butt’s falling asleep anyway.” You said with a yawn.

He made a silent nod of agreement followed by a little chuckle, gesturing to an exit sign with the promising lights of a gas station and hotel ahead. By hotel, it turned out to be motel and you saw Kylo’s expression grow weary.

“What? You too good for a motel now, Princess Ren?” You laughed, pleased with the new nickname for him.

“ _No_ , I just know I could afford to buy the entire place. If we drive a little farther I’m sure we could find a nicer hotel, or just anything but a motel.”

“Uh huh, well the last place I slept was a prison bunk with like six other women. My bunkmate smelled questionably like cat liter and meth, so I really don’t give a fuck if it’s the Hampton’s or not, I just want to get out of this car.”

To that Kylo gave a breathy sigh, running his hand through his hair as he parked the car in front of the motel. The vacancy light blinked, the letters V and N sputtered before going out. Kylo looked from you to the light, noticing that you weren’t backing down from your decision to stay there. Putting his car into park, he hesitated before opening the door.

“My car better be in one piece tomorrow.” Kylo mumbled, getting out as his tall form towered next to yours.

There was a time when you were taller than him. Apparently that time was now long behind the two of you, further cementing in your mind that this wasn’t little Ben Solo anymore. You weren’t on a romantic or even platonic friendly road trip, he was just Kylo Ren, the guy you used to know, doing a family friend a favour, probably out of guilt. He wasn’t your best friend anymore; you had to keep reminding yourself of that.

Making your way into the office, a small, less than friendly looking man sat at the desk. As you got closer, you saw his eyes were sunken in a little, frown lines were beginning to draw his scowl into a permanent typography on his pale, somewhat greying face. There was a nametag loosely pinned to his black crinkled shirt: Pal.

“Hello travellers. What can I do for you.” Pal’s voice was gravely and as he spoke you saw two rows of decaying teeth.

Jesus Christ, did this guy know what personal hygiene was. You leaned in really close and pulled Kylo down so his ear was close to you as you whispered,

“This guy could use a trip to the spa and a bath bomb.” You smirked, he glanced sideways at your, raising an eyebrow.

“Wanna back out.” You could feel his breath on your ear and your heart fluttered.

“Two rooms, please. I’d like mine with a view.” You turned to Pal, beaming as you heard Kylo’s exasperated sigh beside you.

Pal looked from Kylo to you, back to Kylo and gave an decaying ghost of smile,

“Only got one room left for the night.”

You folded your arms, hearing Kylo suddenly speak beside you,

“Sir, I don’t mean to tell you you’re wrong, but we’re literally one of three cars here. There’s no way there’s only one room left.”

Pal’s face turned back into a scowl,

“Then don’t say anything, fancy boy. We got one room, take it or leave it.”

Kylo placed a hand on the small of your back, trying to steer you out, but you stood firm. Your ass was not about to go back to sitting in that car,

“We’ll take it.”

Much to Kylo’s groaning and complaining, begging you to change your mind, you hauled your backpack out of the car and jingled the room keys.

“It’s one night, you’re not going to die.” You shrugged, “Or will you. This is kind of like a horror movie set up. Let’s just hope I don’t get meat-hooked in the closet.”

Kylo laughed again, “If I see Norman Bates, you better not leave me behind again.”

You stopped short, a small smile turned up the corners of your mouth. He remembered. When you two were kids, brand new to the world of movies that didn’t involve animated singing animals, you stole a scary movie from his dad’s collection. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and you and Ben thought you’d be the coolest kids in your school to have seen a scary movie. You were wrong. So very, very wrong. Half way through, you ran out of the room, convinced if you watched anymore you’d be stabbed to death in the shower.

Ben had ran after you, wrapping his gangly arms around you as you shook, saying “That psycho’s gotta go through me first.” Promising you he’d never leave you.

_Stupid fucking promises kids make. They never keep them._

You shoved the key into the lock of the room, pretending not to notice Kylo staring at you as you both seemed to share the moment of one of your favourite memories. He was giving that same look he used to have in his eyes you thought was long gone, like you had put the stars in the sky, like you were the reason the moon would shine at night. Kylo’s look, a look he must have given a thousand girls by now, but you had been the first, the first to have put the stars in the sky for him. You shook off the feeling, throwing your shoulder into the door and turning the key again. It flung open and you were met with the one thing you hoped you wouldn’t see.

There was one bed.

_Shit._

_A/N: Anybody catch my little easter egg? Pal? Guess who Pal is._


	4. Are We There Yet? Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore the lazy typos! I think faster than I can write. But, I hope you enjoy this! Slow burn is not my biggest strength but I got a lot more in store for these two.

An awkward exchange of glances followed. You watched as Kylo’s throat bobbed as he cleared his throat,

“Well, I can take the chairs over there… I’m sure they’re comfy.”

You looked over at the tacky patterned chairs that must not have been updated since the 1980s. You sighed, hadn’t Pal ever heard of Ikea?

“No, no, it’s okay. You’re tall and whatever, I can take the chairs.” You toss your backpack to the side and make your way to the bathroom. Gagging a little at the stench of mildew and who-knows-what-else, you splash your face with cold water. Taking a quick glance at yourself in the mirror, you combed your fingers through your hair and made your way back out to where Kylo was mumbling obscenities at the remote.

You roll your eyes, plopping yourself next to him on the bed, uncomfortably aware of how close your bodies were to each other as you reached over for the remote. Sighing, you pull the back off the remote and just as you expected; the batteries were gone.

“Seriously? Who steals batteries?” Kylo groans.

“Eh, a cheap hotel like this, I don’t think there’s a lot of things people haven’t done in here.” You paused, both of you shook your heads at the thought.

An uncomfortable silence followed, much like the uncomfortable silences you had been sharing with Kylo since the trip began.

“Hey… [Y/N]?” Kylo said suddenly, not looking up from where your hand was grazing his on the bed.

“Hm?” You avoided speaking, worried you’d scare him off from whatever he was going to say.

“I… want to apologize.” Kylo paused, before scooping your hand up into his, staring sincerely into your eyes. “I know… I know I hurt you. I should have kept writing, I shouldn’t have just shut you out… I just thought you hated me and I just couldn’t live with the thought that I had let you down. I know it sounds stupid.”

Before he could finish you interjected, “Look, this is all nice to say now, but let’s face the reality here. We’re going to get to California, you’re going to drop me off at Han’s, turn around, and leave… again. And honestly, I can’t deal with that kind of heartbreak again. I can’t watch you leave again.”

Kylo’s grip on your hand grew a little tighter, like if he let go you’d disappear. His gaze dropped from your eyes to your intertwined hands.

“Just because I go back to my job at the end of this trip doesn’t mean I’m leaving you again. I promise, this time’s going to be different.” Kylo paused before a tiny smirk pulled at the edges of his mouth, “Besides, we’re Ben and [Y/N], inseparable avengers of the galaxy.”

You chuckled at the memory, pulling Kylo in for a tight huge, his arms swallowing your figure. You tried to memorize the moment, how his arms felt around you, the way his heart beat against your chest, the smell of his hair, all the things that were so familiar yet so different to you now. As much as there was a longing for it to be just like before, the gnawing ache of his absence still ate at you, the memory seemed to now scream at you from the back of your mind. Kylo wrapped his hands around you shoulders, peering up at your face. You scrunched up your face, attempting to hide the tears that were building up in your eyes.

“I think it’s best if we just went back to how things were… hurts less.” You mumbled, brushing Kylo away.

As much as it hurt you to say, you believed you were doing what was best to protect yourself. Alone is what you had been for so long , you didn’t know if you could trust anything different.

“[Y/N]… God, what did I do to you.” Kylo’s voice was soft as he ran a hand through his hair.

You gave a breathy laugh, shrugging your shoulders. A knock on the door startled you both. Kylo motioned for you to stay behind him as he slowly approached the door, grabbing a red-shaded lamp as defense. Opening the door a tiny crack, you peeked from beside Kylo to find a beaming uniformed pizza delivery boy.

“Pizza for a…” The pizza man glances at the receipt, “Kyle and [Y/N] Ren?”

You choked out a laugh,

“We didn’t order pizza.” You and Kylo said at the same time and you added, “And it’s Kylo Ren and [Y/N] [Y/L/N].”

The pizza man gave an annoyed huff, checking the receipt again.

“Yeah, the guy on the phone told me you’d say that.” The pizza guy shoved the pizza into Kylo’s arms, “Oh yeah, and he also said it’ll be added to your room bill.”

And with that, the pizza guy, his uniform indicating he was from a local pizza place called Jabba’s Pizza, disappeared into his corolla and drove away. Watching his trail of dust the two of you stood dumbfounded in the doorway with two large pizzas. As confused as you were, you were equally as hungry, so you made your move to grab a slice.

“Whoa! You don’t know where this is from! It could be poisoned! Or pissed on!” Kylo said suddenly, grabbing your arm.

“Yeah well, I’ll take my chances.” You took a big bite of the cheesy pie, grinning, “Besides, what a headline that would be.” You added with your mouth full.

Kylo shook his head, accepting the distraction from the awkwardly painful conversation the two of you were having before, and took his chances with the pizza.

A quiet grown radiated from you as you finished your fifth slice, sprawled across the corner of the bed.

“Kill me.” You groaned, “Let me die.”

You heard Kylo’s quiet chuckle from the other corner of the bed. Your stomach made an angry gurgle in response.

“I’m never eating again.”

You poked your bloated stomach, groaning again as it gurgled again in response,

“Look at that shit, it’s becoming a monster.”

You rolled your head up to look at Kylo, realizing your face was unexpectedly close to his. Unsure of whether to move back or not, you remained frozen, watching as his nose scrunched up in a giggle. Was he giggling? That was so not fair. Kylo’s gaze fell from your eyes to your lips, your eyes following. There was a pause, before the two of you inched closer to each other. Before your lips touched, you felt a jolt telling you this was a bad idea. Throwing yourself up from the bed with an angry grunt, you made your way to the makeshift bed of tacky chairs awaiting you.

“I need to sleep before I get hungry again in like twenty minutes.” You said through the pillow you had just flopped onto, hiding the red blush assaulting your face.

“I suppose.” Kylo said softly, turning his gaze away from you, hiding his face as well, “You sure you don’t want the bed? I don’t mind.”

You shook your head, still not moving from your pillow mask, “No, no. Goodnight! Sleep tight! Don’t let the hepatitis bite.”

The lights turned off and you heard Kylo shuffle under the covers.

“Goodnight. Don’t let the crabs bite.” You could just hear the smirk in his words as you dozed off.

The next morning however, you didn’t find yourself on your brilliantly constructed bed of chairs. Instead, you awoke to a long arm slung across your waist and Kylo’s face buried into your neck. Your eyes widened as you found yourself in the bed, Kylo’s tall figure taking up the majority of it however, but you were still mostly on the bed.

You calculated which circumstance would be the least awkward way to start the morning when you felt him stir against you. Part of you wanted to take in the sleepy figure next you, he was exceptionally attractive when he slept. The way the sunlight fell across his face, how his eyelashes brushed against his freckled cheeks, how his- _fucking stop, no, snap out of it._ You told yourself, watching as he stirred again, nuzzling himself closer against you. Suddenly, startled brown eyes met yours. On impulse, you shouted,

“Top o’ the fuckin’ morning to ya, laddie!” 


	5. Are We There Yet? Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /N: HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you goes to the two beautiful souls that saved my from my anxiety ridden self and helped me so much with this chapter and the rest of the story. @tiffy-ray and @centaursandsatyrs (not sure why it’s not letting me do the @ thing for you but, ey) you guys are the real MVPs. So, here it is, Chapter 4, many days late from when I hoped to release it. Hope you all enjoy!

/N: HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you goes to the two beautiful souls that saved my from my anxiety ridden self and helped me so much with this chapter and the rest of the story. [@tiffy-ray](https://tmblr.co/mKKbPlO6PXKao42UdQoxMug) and @centaursandsatyrs (not sure why it’s not letting me do the @ thing for you but, ey) you guys are the real MVPs. So, here it is, Chapter 4, many days late from when I hoped to release it. Hope you all enjoy!

——————————————————

 Your morning consisted of Kylo bemoaning his bruised tailbone. A bruise he received from your awkward and obscenely loud morning greeting that resulted in Kylo flying backwards and ass first onto the green carpet. In the shower, you thought about why you had gravitated towards sleeping on the bed with Kylo and as much as you wanted to believe you were just tired and the chairs were uncomfortable, you knew it was only half of the truth. Ever since you were kids, you often gravitated towards each other, like an invisible force was always pulling the two of you together. You felt safer around each other, in fact, being with him had made you feel the most, well, and yourself you had felt in a long time. Neither of you addressed the change in sleeping arrangements; you simply packed up your bag and waited in the car as Kylo handled the room and pizza bill.

Leaning a little further into the seat of Kylo’s car, you felt yourself falling back asleep as you waited for Kylo. As you reached the hazy halfway mark between being awake and asleep, you were torn violently from it as a loud yell assaulted your ears,

“[Y/N]! Wake up! There’s a semi headed straight for us!”

Bolting upright, your eyes were met with an idle car. Slowly, you turned your head to see Kylo giving you a gloating grin, recording you on his phone.

“Get out. You’re walking home.” You huffed.

“This is my car.” Kylo said, still chuckling a little.

You waved your hand in front of his phone, grabbing it from him and turning it towards him.

“I don’t care. I’m taking this phone too, it’s nicer than mine.”

You couldn’t hold back the grin that was threatening to give away your feigned anger. That’s when Kylo pulled the trick that literally drove you crazy, it was your kryptonite and he knew it: the puppy dog eyes. Puckering his lower lip, his brown eyes going all big and dewy, he extended his hand to you,

“You wouldn’t leave me here.” Kylo said behind his stupid, adorable puppy mask of a face.

Sighing dramatically, you scrunched up your nose in defeat,

“You bitch. Okay fine, here, let’s go.”

Handing him his phone, he gave a little whoop, kissing your cheek as he got in the car, both of you immediately turning red. It was something he always did, for various reasons, like hellos and goodbyes, after you forgave him for pissing you off, after he forgave you for pissing him off, thank you’s, etc. It was more a muscle reflex than anything, but the ghost of his lips still lingered as you drove away.

It wasn’t long on the highway till your phone got service again, your phone binging to life with texts. Kylo glanced down at your phone. You sighed, unlocking your phone to be assaulted by group messages, texts from Rey, from Poe, and just way too many from Finn. They were your friends, best friends, and coworkers from Resistance Magazine.

You replied to their messages asking you about where you were, if you were okay, etcetera. Smiling at the Snapchats they had sent you, laughing a little harder than you should have at their faceswaps, sending back a picture of the highway stretching out in front of you with a bunch of sunglasses emojis.

“You’re popular.” Kylo quirked an eyebrow up at you.

You shrugged, “Not really, just very snap happy friends.”

Kylo paused for a moment, “Was one of those guys your boyfriend?”

You crossed your arms, “You should be watching the road, not snooping, Sherlock.” Then sighed, “But no.”

Another pause, “Girlfriend?”

“No, but why do you care? Jealous?”

Kylo was quiet, like he was thinking and re-thinking about what he was going to say. You felt a hopeful twinge in your stomach at the idea of him saying yes, but then immediately dismissed it. There was no way.

“I just don’t think anyone is good enough for you, is all.”

His comment caught you off-guard and you were about to say something when Kylo’s phone started to ring.

“Can you answer that?” Kylo said handing you his phone.

A Face-time call appeared on the screen, an image of a very angry looking red headed man appeared in front of you. He was yelling, before he suddenly became aware that you weren’t Kylo.

“Well hello to you too.” You said when he stopped.

“Is Ren there.” The man had been identified by the words Hux when you answered the call, so you assumed that was his name. “Actually that’s a stupid question, of course he is. You must be [Y/N], hi. Turn me to him.”

You looked over at Kylo who was shaking his head vigorously, begging you to just talk to him instead in a whispered voice.

“I can hear you, Ren!” Hux shouted.

You held back a snicker, facing the screen so Hux could see Kylo.

“Traitor.” Kylo mumbled to you before addressing Hux. “Hi, Hux. What can I do for you.”

Hux began spouting off again, something about numbers and figures and how Snoke was going to have his head when he got back.

“As you can see, I’m busy, I’ll deal with it when I get back.” Kylo said evenly. “And I said I wanted that information by Tuesday, so I suggest you get it.”

Kylo’s business voice scared you a little, he was like a totally different person, yet somehow “Business Kylo” kind of had a draw to him. A powerful aura radiated around him as he spoke and you found yourself far more attracted to it than you would have liked.

“Yes, well, I have to go now. Say hi to Millicent for me!” Kylo said, reaching across and hanging up on Hux.

“Millicent?” You questioned, handing the phone back to Kylo.

“His cat.” Kylo smirked.

Something about his smirk after his whole business man moment had you wishing he was smirking at you like that while your back was being slammed against a wall- _what the fuck, no, bad [Y/N] this isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey._

Kylo caught you staring,

“What?”

You shook your head, returning your eyes to the road. Up ahead there was a rest stop, you asked Kylo to pull over and you found yourself bolting to the bathroom. You wanted to run into the woods and scream, this was all getting to be too much for you, so you resigned yourself to the porcelain panic room. The old feelings you had for Kylo were all rushing back to you, like a massive wave-no a tsunami-knocking you over and drowning you. You didn’t even realize how loudly you were crying until a knock on the side of your stall startled you.

“Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?” A tiny lady’s voice called from the other stall.

You sniffled, nodding, before realizing she couldn’t see you,

“Y-yes, I’m fine.”

Faking a flush, you went in front of the sink, staring at yourself in the mirror. Wiping your face, you saw the little old lady waddle beside you, her dark skin was weathered and wrinkled with age. She looked up at you with eyes magnified by large glasses and her silver bracelets clinked against the sink as she washed her hands. Drying them on her blue sweater, she turned to you,

“Is it that boy your with that’s making you cry like that?”

Looking down at her, you shook your head. Then paused and nodded,

“Sort of.”

She reached up, patting your hands, both of them still a little soapy,

“If there is something I have learned in all my years, it’s that you see the same eyes in different people. I’ve seen his eyes and yours, it doesn’t take a genius to see there is something between you two, even at a glace. You have history, you’re in love.”

You shook your head,

“Used to be… maybe. He has more important things in his life now, we’re just burnt out flames I guess.”

She clicked her tongue,

“Don’t lie to the old lady, I know more than you think.” She sighed, before making her way out of the bathroom, but not before stopping and saying one more thing, “When you blow out a candle, miss, do you throw it away?”

You gave her a quizzical look.

“No…” You realized where she was going with this, “I keep it, because I can just light it again.”

The lady nodded, before disappearing outside.

You gave yourself one last look in the mirror. You and Kylo weren’t candles, though, and some things, no matter how badly you want them, just don’t happen. You weren’t a candle, you weren’t Anastasia Steel, and Kylo wasn’t a Disney prince sent to sweep you off your glass slipper clad feet. You two were just an ending to a John Green novel: pretentiously sad and it made you cry more than you wanted or expected.

Leaving the bathroom you made your way to where Kylo was leaning against his car.

“Took you long enough.” Kylo laughed. “Dropping the mother load?”

You punched him in the arm, as you got closer, laughing,

“A lady doesn’t shit and tell.”

The next few hours consisted of uncomfortably bad karaoke and shitty gas station coffee. It was all fun and games until you insisted Kylo listen to the song you were about to play. You hyped it up, stating it was one of the best songs you had ever heard and Kylo turned up the radio, interested in what it could be. The classic 80s instrumental music came on, you were stifling laughter already, but it seemed Kylo hadn’t caught on yet.

_We’re no strangers to love_

_You know the rules and so do I_

The expression on Kylo’s face hadn’t changed yet, still trying to recognize the song.

_… I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling_

_Gotta make you understand_

Then… Kylo’s expression grew dark.

_Never gonna give you up_

_Never gonna let you down_

You couldn’t hold it in anymore, you were crying from laughter. Kylo looked pissed, but you could see he was trying not to smile.

“[Y/N]… why… why would you do this.” Kylo said mournfully, turning the radio down.

“Because…” You reached across to grab Kylo’s hand, “I’m never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. I’m never gonna run around and desert you.”

Needless to say, you lost the AUX cord privileges for the rest of the day.

But it was worth it.

So worth it.


End file.
